Attendance Policy

Regular on-time school attendance is required by law. Parents/guardians of children between the ages of 6 and 18 are responsible for sending their children to school full-time. The amount of time a student attends class correlates very closely with learning consequently, the importance of regular attendance and arriving at school on time cannot be overemphasized. Please schedule doctor or dentist appointments before or after school.

TRUANCYPer state law, a student with three unexcused absences is considered truant. Parents will be notified by mail monthly when their child has accumulated 3 or more unexcused absences.

Truancy (defined as three unexcused absences, three unexcused tardies, or three unexcused early dismissals) may result in disciplinary action as follows:

Parent conference and contract

Loss of privileges

Referral to School Attendance Review Board (SARB)

Legally Excused Absences

A student may be excused legally (valid excuse) from school when the absence is for the following reasons:

Personal illness or injury of the student

Medical, dental, optometric, or chiropractic services rendered.

Attendance at funeral services for a member of the immediate family.

Exclusion for failure to present evidence of immunization.

Exclusion from school because student is either the carrier of a contagious disease or not immunized for a contagious disease.

Student sent home ill by the school health office, provided that student was in class for roll call.

Upon written request of the parent or guardian and prior approval of the Director and pursuant to board policy, a student’s absence may be excused. Reasons include, but not limited to:

Appearance in court

Observation of a holiday or ceremony of his/her religion.

Attendance at funeral services for someone that is not a member of the immediate family.

Parent returning from active military deployment.

Unexcused Absences

Unexcused absences are truancies and all absences for a cause not specifically noted above in “Legally Excused Absences” will be recorded as a truancy in any of these cases:

1.Absent without a valid excuse.

2.Tardy more than 30 minutes without a valid excuse.

3.Early dismissal more than 30 minutes without a valid excuse

Unexcused absences include but are not limited to:

On vacation or out of town

Traffic

Car trouble

Did not wake up on time

Errands

Ill family member

Reporting / Explanation of Absence

If it is necessary for your child to be absent from class, please comply with the law by notifying the school office at (619) 420-0066 of the reason for your child’s absence within three days of the date of absence. Failure to report the reason for your child’s absence could turn the absence into an unexcused absence.

Early Release or Late Arrival of Pupil for Medical Services

Pupils must present a note as evidence of a medical appointment to be released or admitted to/from school for medical services. Excused tardies and/or excused early dismissals are limited to those for documented (doctor’s note) medical appointments.

All late arrivals or early dismissals will be deemed unexcused – truant without a doctor’s note for documentation.

A student may be released only to a parent or guardian of record or to a properly identified person over 18 years of age, authorized in writing by the parent or guardian to act on his/her behalf.

If a student arrives at school late but without a note, s/he will get a “late slip” for admittance to class. The student will have two days to bring in a note to change this to an excused tardy.

Independent Study Agreements

Students who will be away from school due to a special circumstance* for one to ten days may request an independent study agreement to stay current with their studies by completing schoolwork during their absence. Arrangements must be requested and approved by the Director a minimum of 3 days in advance.** The approved agreement needs to be signed prior to the absence. Independent Study Agreements do not qualify a student for Perfect Attendance. The student will not have an absence recorded for the days he/she completes an Independent Study Agreement. An incomplete Independent Study Agreement (student did not do the work assigned) will be recorded as an excused absence. The Independent Study Agreement is not an alternative to regular school attendance and will be granted for special occasions only. Students who fail to complete Independent Study Agreements will not be approved for subsequent Independent Study Agreements.

*Special circumstances are those that would not be possible after school hours or during weekends or school breaks. Examples of special circumstances may include family weddings, family reunions, and funerals. Independent study agreements are not to be used for family vacations and trips unrelated to such special circumstances.

**Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis with authorization of the Director. The agreement still must be signed before the absence occurs.

Situation

Definition

Clarification

Requirement

Absent

Student is not present in the classroom at any time during the school day.

Excused absence for student’s medical or dental reasons, funeral for immediate family member, religious holiday, or parent returns from active military deployment

Unexcused: On vacation or out of town, traffic, car trouble, did not wake up on time, errands, ill family member

Phone call or note from parent or doctor’s note is required.

For religious holiday or a parent returning from active military duty, a written PRIOR approval is required.

Tardy

Student is not present in the classroom when roll is being taken.

Student must be in their seat in class by 8:00 am.

Excused-Doctor or Dentist

Unexcused-Not permitted

Excused tardy must be accompanied by doctor or

dentist note for tardies of 30 minutes or more. And by a parent note for tardies less than 30 minutes.

Early Dismissal

A student is present at the beginning of the school day but leaves before school ends.

Excused–Doctor or Dentist

Unexcused-Not permitted

A doctor or dentist note is required for an excused early dismissal of 30 minutes or more.

Independent Study Agreement

An Independent Study Agreement allows a student to complete work assigned by the classroom teacher while the student is not present in the classroom for a period of one to ten days due to a special circumstance.

Student with completed Independent Study Agreement will not have an absence recorded for those days.

Students with an incomplete Independent Study Agreement (didn’t do the assigned work) will have those days recorded as excused absences.